Bryan & Brittney Austin

This last week was a total blast for me. I got the opportunity to go up and ride horses with my aunt Pat while on a cattle drive. It was so much fun. My butt and legs are sore but it was so worth it. I left after work on Thursday and made the three hour drive up to Blackfoot, ID. I met up with my aunt at her home. We both hit the sack right away since we had to be up so early the next morning. We got up at 4:45 am on Friday and got ready. We loaded into my aunt's truck and went to pick up her friend Jerry. Jerry was a very nice guy and I enjoyed getting to know him. He actually lives in a shack on his property. He is a carpenter and work has not been plentiful lately so he is slowly working towards being able to build a house. He had the cutest dog ever named Red. She was such a nice dog and she had just had a litter of puppies so I was in seventh heaven getting to pet all the puppies. We then headed up to where the cattle had spent the night the evening before. The day before the cowboys had pushed the cattle just down the road. The drive itself is actually a three day drive and I got to go on the second day. We got to the camp and I got to meet everyone. Everyone was so nice to me and just all around good people. Of course they are cowboys so the beer and whiskey were already being passed around before even getting on their horses. I got to eat some of the best fried eggs I ever had before we saddled the horses and got up to move the cattle. It was a joke at first of me trying to get used to riding again. It had been only about... mmmm... 12 YEARS since I had last ridden. I had to try to remember everything. But after about 15 minutes it all came back to me and I was doing good. We pushed the cattle down a country road for about 6 miles before stopping. It was some of the most beautiful country side I have ever seen. There are rolling hills all around and just fields and fields of crops such as potatoes and alfalfa. There were about 120 heads of cattle that we were pushing and about half of them were calves. They were so cute and they just wanted to stay by their mom's sides at all times. They mooed the whole time we were driving them and it was like music to my ears. I loved it. When we did stop, we stopped for a potty break, drinks and a quick bite. Sadly at this point I did not get to ride anymore. My horse, handsome Jack was having problems walking because he is not shoed and his hoof cracked all the way up. He was such a good horse to ride. I enjoyed it a lot. He was a tall black horse topping the charts at 25 years old. He did not ride like an old horse though, he rode like a youngster. So after we loaded Jack into the trailer, I got to ride in the beer truck from there on out. The beer truck is just that. I pulls the trailer behind the driving cattle and provides an endless supply of beer and whiskey to the cowboys. At one point we stopped for a 30 minute break for beer and provided beer for the cowboys as they sat on their horses and told old stories. It was like a painting. We stopped again for lunch at which time of the cowboys made their way back to town for some supplies and so then I got to drive the beer truck following. We got up into the mountains before they stopped for the evening and we caught a ride back to my aunt's truck. It was a full day of horses, cows, and the cool Idaho hill air. I loved it and cannot stop thinking of how I wish I could just go back. After coming back down and dropping everyone off, my aunt and I went out to some yummy dinner and then hit the sack. I am so lucky to have such and awesome aunt that would treat me so great while I was there and she knew how much I was enjoying myself. I got to meet a lot of new people that were so much fun to talk to and get to know. I love my aunt to so much and she is a great person to hang out with it.

A~Age: 25
B~ Bed Size: Feels small but a Queen (Bryan takes up most of it)
C~ Chore That You Hate: Laundry
D~ Dogs: Three of them. Daisy (bassett hound/blue heeler mix), Blue (Australian sheppard/beagle mix), and Chewy (Shiztuh)
E~ Essential Start To Your Day: Getting out of bed (that is a chore)
F~ Favorite Color: Green
G~ Gold Or Silver: Silver
H~ Height: 5' 5"
I~ Instruments You Play: Violin, piano, guitar
J~ Job Title: Pharmacy Technician
K~ Kids: None.... yet...
L~ Live: Magna
M~ Mothers name: Celinda
N~ Nicknames: Britt Bratt, Dove, Waddles
O~ Overnight Hospital Stays: Appendix removal.
P~ Pet Peeves: Illegal immigrants that think they are entitled to everything and do not need to follow the rules like everyone else. IT PISSES ME OFF SO MUCH!!!
Q~ Quote from a Movie: "Young Elizabeth: Did they live happily ever after?
Polly: Of Course Elizabeth.
Young Elizabeth: How do you know?
Polly: Because, she was a good little girl, if she would have been naughty, the Prince would have run away.
Young Elizabeth: What a pile of shit. " (From Drop Dead Fred, the best movie ever!)
R~ Right Or Left Handed: Right
S ~ Siblings: I have one sister, Darcy. I have one brother in law, Danny. I have one sister in law, Amber.
T~ Time You Wake Up: 7:30 am to 8:00 am
U~ Underwear: Yes, why would you ask that?!?
V~ Vegetable You Hate: Brussel Sprouts, YUCK!!
W~ What Makes You Run Late: My husband, Bryan.
X~ X-rays you've had: About 25 of my wrist, a couple of my ankle, MRI scan of my head, Cat scans of my arm and head. One ultra sound of my stomach.
Y~ Yummy Food That You Make: Heath Cookies, mom's spaghetti, mom's clam chowder, guy approved meat loaf, balsamic chicken and mushrooms, and a healthy chicken parmesan. (There are so many more but I am drawing a blank.)
Z~ Zoo Animal: Elephant.

Well, we have not had a whole lot going on lately. I finished my classes for Spring semester which has been nice and I am just waiting on one more grade to post before I know them all. It was a good semester and I am liking my grades so far. Finishing this semester means no more Salt Lake Community College! Woo Hoo!! I am officially an Aggie now and I have already started classes for this summer semester. They are the simple ones I can take and in the fall I will be taking a full load of classes. This summer I am taking Family Finance, Art Symposium, and Statistics. It will be really nice to get the pre-requisites out of the way and then get to take some classes that are a little more specialized and more fun.



This summer I am taking Family Finance, Art Symposium, and Statistics. It will be really nice to get the pre-requisites out of the way and then get to take some classes that are a little more specialized and more fun. Well that has been about it other than work, work, and more work.

So I am not very good at remembering to take a lot of photos while cooking. But I am starting to get a lot better at is slowly. So below is a recipe for Chicken Soulvaki Sandwiches. They are so yummy and we really enjoyed them. Another recipe I found online. I do down the meat amount for just the two of us but the recipe I will give is for four servings.

So, I really love the cooking channel. I love watching all the different meals that are out there to cook. Cooking Channel by the way, NOT the Food Network. Food Network does have some okay shows but the Cooking Channel is nothing but cooking shows mostly. It is the kind of food too that I can make. Maybe not as well or fast, but yes I definitely can. Also, I really love cooking. It is fun and exciting to see how the recipe will work out and if I did it all correctly. So lately, I have been a bit on a health kick too. I have been trying to watch what I and Bryan eat more. So all the recipes that I share on here are for healthy eaters. You won't find fattening dishes here. I want to share how good it can taste to eat healthy. I also love reading cooking blogs so I am going to make my bad attempt at trying to show what we are enjoying and maybe share a good recipe here and there. Sorry for how bad my photos are but I am not the best at photographing food and my kitchen is not that big or great. All I have to work with is about 5 feet of counter tops, 3 feet in width of walking space, so I am a little crammed. For sure the next house I buy/build will have an awesome kitchen, with so much cabinet space and a lot of room to roam. Mmm... I will have to save my dreams for another house though. So here it is. My first recipe that I wanted to share/show is one I found online. It is for Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry. It was so yummy and Bryan gave it the thumbs up approval to make again and again.

Well we did have fun together this last weekend. First Bryan started the day off Saturday by going over to his cousin's, boyfriend's apartment for a LAN party. It was nuts! The only other time that men ever get this squeezed in close together would be in a midget size submarine. It was so jammed packed of boys and there computers, you could not breath. 20 guys had shown up for the party in an apartment that is no more than 800 square feet. They had guys in the living room, kitchen, dining room, and bedroom. They had to run extension cords from all over the place just so they did not trip the breakers. They opened every window and the front door even to try and ventilate and it was still smelly and crammed. I went over to hang out with Bryan's cousin, Desi. It did not take long after being there that the girls decided to leave and go somewhere that did not smell of sweat and computers. I do not envy Shane for his power bill should be thru the roof this month. Shane was cool to invite Bryan to come over and hang out with all the guys. I just wish there would have been a little more room.

Desi and I ended up going to a piercing and tattooing parlor for her to get her nose pierced. I have never seen anything like it before and it was interesting to watch. All the people getting tattoos too it was kind of interesting. I would never be able to commit to a tattoo like that or a piercing either but it was a new experience to see. Desi and I then ran some errands before going back to the party. We picked up one of the other guys wife, Keirsten. We went to dinner at Tres Hombres. I hate to be negative, but I was not impressed at all by Tres Hombres. It was really lacking in the flavor department and it was way over priced for what you got. The company was great but the food was not that good. We ended the night with picking up the hubbies and going home.

The next morning (Sunday), Bryan and I got up extra early to drive out to Alpine for my friend's, Megan, baby blessing of their little girl. She is such a cute baby and it was so great to see Megan and Stephan again. We do not get to see them often enough. I really miss hanging out with Megan. She is so much fun, laid back, and just a good person to be around. I hope that we can hang out with them more often before I head down to school this fall. We ended our Sunday with a very long walk, 9.5 miles to be exact. We walked from Bryan's parent's house to Valey Fair Mall and back to about 5600 West. It was a long but wonderful walk. We talked the whole way and enjoyed the long walk. It was a little tiring by the end of the night we both crashed. All in all, it was a good weekend.